The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to feeding a document.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One of the many applications of an information handling system includes enabling the ability to scan documents into digital formats in order to allow those documents to be stored, edited, copied, and printed. Current devices couple to the information handling system and allow the scanning of documents either by having the document manually placed on the scanner, or by routing the document to the scanner themselves through an automatic document feeder.
The scanning of documents raises a number of issues. Sensitive documents such as, for example, printed photographs, may require careful handling as to not damage them. Placing these sensitive documents manually on current scanners raises the least chance of causing them damage, but results in a very time consuming process.
In order to speed up the process of scanning sensitive documents, the automatic document feeder may be used. However, current automatic document feeders take the document through an arcuate-shaped path which can place the documents in stress and induce a curl in the document, which is very undesirable with sensitive documents such as printed photographs. Furthermore, automatic document feeders use pick/feed mechanisms which have the potential to cause damage to the face of the document they engage such as the image side of a printed photograph.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for feeding a document absent the disadvantages discussed above.